Man sentenced to 40 months for insurance fraud

Posted: Friday, April 11, 2003

ANCHORAGE (AP) A 39-year-old man was sentenced to 40 months in jail for insurance fraud.

Jay Darling had pleaded guilty to one federal charge of fraud in January.

He was accused of lying about his income to get a life insurance policy. Prosecutors said that after Darling's wife, Wanda Wood, died in a 1997 fall from a bluff near Homer, he mailed a claim form and his wife's death certificate to get the money.

Alaska State Troopers have called Darling a suspect in the death. He has not been charged with the crime.

At the sentencing Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Beistline said Darling had held more than 30 jobs in 25 years and led an unstable life.